Be My Escape
by FernClaw
Summary: 04 Summer’s just begun and Kouji has detention for something he didn’t do. Stuck after school he meets a peculiar boy trying to deal with with his emotions. The loner decides to reach out when no one else will. implied slash, not much


Posted on Feb 25th, 2009

Be My Escape

Kouji just rolled his eyes. He stood at the entrance of the boy's locker room, with a ragged, stiff, wash brush in one hand and a bucket filled with soapy, warm water. He snorted at the idea that the school got to keep him after on the last day of term. It was summer vacation for crying out loud! Yet, he didn't have a choice in the matter.

The dark haired musician was stuck cleaning graffiti off some of the lockers. Why him? He didn't do it. He had been in the music room at the time, playing his guitar for his Music theory course final. The real culprits were the senior stars of the baseball team. They spray painted the lockers in a tribute to their memory. But, trying to explain to the principal that they did the vandalism was like telling the world that the Pope committed a sin.

So here he was, taking the fall for the jocks yet again. Why did he put up with it? Kouji is the quiet, musical type, not very confrontational unless it's personal, who rarely did anything bad and kept to himself. He got good marks in school, hasn't missed a single day of high school in his two years so far, and was a part of the student honors society.

Ever since his freshman year, Kouji had been taking detentions for the jocks, only because he was caught in the wrong places at the wrong times. He was set up for most of the incidents; whether it was the TP-ing of the principal's office or the rude words painted on the side of the school or the broken choral risers or just about anything that could get a student detention, Kouji had taken the fall for it when he had a prefect alibi.

He just took it. He really didn't care. Most everyone knew he was innocent anyway, so which ever teacher watching him let him have a not-so-painful detention. This case, however, involved the gym teacher as the vandals stuck the locker room. Kouji hated gym class and pretty much refused to do anything. This caused problems naturally and Kouji was removed from the course.

He had a pretty good reason to not want to put on that ridiculous gym uniform, besides the fact they were just plain ugly. Kouji's father is a mild alcoholic and sometimes; he isn't always a good man. He's pleasant when he's sober. Once he's drunk though, he goes after the boy like hell's fury.

Kouji just takes it… No one can quite understand it, but then again, no one really knows him. He's a loner, who would rather be playing his guitar or writing a song than be involved in anything that meant crowds or human interaction. That's why he lets people do him in like this.

He sighed and set to work, scrubbing the first locker. Maybe he should learn to stand up for himself… well last time Kouji tried that, it was to his drunken father and he nearly died. He was afraid. Fear kept him wrapped up tightly from the rest of the world. Only through music was Kouji truly able to express himself.

Kouji began to hum a song to himself as he worked. He found himself singing softly before long, completely unaware he wasn't alone. He worked tiredly, trying to remove the paint that blemished the silvery gray lockers.

"You should try to scrub in circles, it works better."

Kouji jumped, dropping the stiffed bristled brush, letting it clatter on the hard floor. He whirled around and came face to face with a small brunette boy. How long had he been standing there? His warm brown eyes watched Kouji innocently, a smile tugged at the corners of his tanned face. He held his left side with his right hand gingerly.

"Who- Where- How long have you been there?" Kouji sputtered, still in shock. His dark blue eyes darted from the boy's face to his side, then back again.

The boy shrugged, "You started singing when I came in. You have a nice voice…" he said shyly, glancing to the floor.

"Uh, thanks..." Kouji replied uncertainly. He turned to continue working.

The other boy walked over and stood beside the loner. "Why are you cleaning this up? The baseball team did it. They should clean it up."

Kouji smiled weakly, the kid was persistent to make conversation. "You try explaining to that to the principal."

"That's not fair." He said like it was a shocking revelation.

Kouji couldn't help but snort at this and reply sarcastically, "really? Hadn't noticed."

"Hey, you don't have to be mean…" the boy said, sounding hurt.

Kouji felt bad about snapping at the boy. "Sorry, I'm just… not a people person."

"It's okay." He said with a light smile, "I'm used to mean comments. Do you want some help with that?"

Kouji looked at the boy, who was offering to help him clean up the mess which was Kouji's punishment, not this boy's… "If you want to…"

He sat his bag down and sat beside Kouji. "Well I want to."

They worked together in silence for a while until the brunette boy broke the silence, "what were you singing? Ya know, before I startled you?"

"It was just a song. I don't know." Kouji said softly, not really sure what he had been singing "I just sing sometimes. Ever since my mom died, music became my only escape…"

The boy's eyes filled with sorrow, "I'm sorry, at east you knew her. I never knew my parents, they both died when I was very young..."

Kouji looked up at him, trying to look apologetic. The boy was clutching at his side, tighter than before. "Are you alright?" he asked, becoming concerned for a kid he hardly knew. Kouji took a harder look at the brunette. He was really a wreck when it came down to it. His eyes were red, his bag was kind of ratty, and his hair was tousled like he had been in a fight. A pair of broken goggles and a hat was clutched in his left hand. "Why are you even here anyway?"

He looked away as sadness flooding his eyes, "Want the truth or a white lie?" He looked back up at Kouji.

"uh… What do you want to tell me?"

The boy paused. "I was going to kill myself." Silence lingered over them as the truth set in to both of them. The brunette gripped his side tighter.

"…why?" Kouji asked after a while.

The other boy tilted his head to the side in confusion, "What do you mean, why?"

"Don't people who commit suicide have a reason?" Kouji asked innocently, his detention task long since forgotten. He looked the other boy I the eyes.

The brunette looked away, "I guess so…"

"So why?" Kouji asked, suddenly very interested in another human for the first time in a long time.

The brunette shrugged, "I don't know. I don't feel like I belong anywhere in the world. People… they really torment me… I don't think I have anything left to live for…"

Kouji turned away, and leaned against the lockers. "Well if you think that, go on then. I'm not stopping you."

The brunette was at a total loss. "What?"

"Well you came to kill yourself, and probably not be found for a while. Well go on and get it over with then." Kouji closed his eyes, and put his arms behind his head.

"I don't think I can…"

Kouji cracked one eye open and raised his eyebrow, "Why not? I thought you had nothing left to live for."

"I don't! Well I didn't… I don't know anymore." He pulled his knees close to his chest, hiding his face in his arms. "I don't want to die…"

Kouji sat up and looked at the boy. "Why not?" he inquired.

"I want to find someone- someone who will actually care about me- for me. Not because they have to." He mumbled; his face still buried in his arms.

Kouji nodded, and put his arm around the boy. The brunette tensed at Kouji's touch. Before he even realized what happened, the boy was sobbing into Kouji's chest. Kouji, a bit surprised by the action, embraced the boy and let him cry.

"We've been here for hours, and I still don't know your name." Kouji mused once the boy's sobs began to subside.

The brunette rubbed his reddened eyes and looked up at Kouji. "It's Takuya."

"I'm Kouji."

"Thank you Kouji." Takuya said after awhile longer.

Kouji looked at the boy with a confused expression, "for what?"

"For being here. You gave me a reason to live. Kouji… you were my escape from an unforgivable mistake." Takuya said softly, resting his head on Kouji's shoulder.

Kouji said nothing, but smiled.

"I'll be your escape anytime."

* * *

I wrote this after a recent emotional event that made me fear for a friend's well-being. Thankfully, nothing became of it. You can view this however the heck you'd like.

DOES NOT OWN DIGIMON (but wants to badly XD)


End file.
